Moving to Melbourne and Pregnant!

My husband is in negotiations for a new job and we may be moving to Melbourne from the UK at the beginning of next year (2013). Very exciting but I feel hugely anxious as I am due to give birth on 7th May and will have LOTS to sort out between our arrival in Australia and the due date...I will have a home to find and make, buying essential items for baby, making friends etc. Any help advice would be greatly appreciated! I'm interested to understand how the medical care works in Australia. In the UK you are automatically assigned a midwife on the NHS (government healthcare) and they help you through your pregnancy, right through to delivery. Is there a similar service in Australia? From what I understand and have read you need to 'book yourself in' for the birth. If this is the case I may be too late! I'm wondering if I should stay in the UK to have my baby and then to come out at a later date once the baby is born.
Also I am entitled to antenatal classes here in the UK, how do I get involved in these in Melbourne?
I'm sorry there are so many aspects and thoughts to this post but I'm sitting in London with lots of worries about when to move.
Any advice would be great!

Moving to Melbourne and Pregnant!

Not much advice to give but I do understand Australia has a reciprocal health care agreement with the UK. So u could google that. If that's the case you would be covered for free treatment in a public hospital (private hospitals require private health insurance that have 12 month waiting periods b4 the birth).
Which public hospital you go to is generally based on what area you reside in, they have catchment areas. If you are in the inner city subs you most likely will b in the catchment of the Royal Women's hospital (google for info and contact details). You need to see a general practitioner for a referral to a hospital in your area, or you can call the hospital's booking number for advice.
If you have a high risk pregnancy ur care may b transferred to a bigger hospital in another area of the city better equipped to ur needs.
The big hospitals in melb are the royal women's in parkville, monash medical centre Clayton, mercy hospital Heidelberg. These take all births from ppl in their areas and then high risk ones by referral. Then there are lots of other smaller public hospitals eg/box hill hospital, frankston hospital, northern hospital etc.
You do all your appointments thru the hospital, are treated usually by a team of midwives and an OB. You aren't guaranteed a specific doctor in the public system. You will likely have to share a room in hospital.

That's all I know, I haven't had a baby yet, still trying to conceive!

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Moving to Melbourne and Pregnant!

Given your late arrival, you may wish to consider hiring a private midwife to support you. This could be set up before you arrive and they could help guide you through the process as well as your pregnancy.

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Wow - You should ask the people your DH is negotiating with about Private health insurance, also your VISA type is going to affect what they must provide for you.

The health care system here is similar yet oh so different to the UK and it costs. You will have to get your head around a very distinct public and private sector as well as things like Medicare and Bulk Billing. It was all very confusing when I first arrived and I wasn't heavily pregnant.

Is there no way you could delay moving until after your child is born?

You would be best ringing Medicare and getting their advice.

Reciprocal health care agreements are for emergencies as far as I know. So if you turn up to hospital giving birth they will see you but you would miss out on any anti natal care. They other thing you should sort immediately is ambulance cover. http://www.ambulance.vic.gov.au/ There is no free ambo's here!

Also if you only have a temporary VISA and you have to get your own health insurance it will cost a lot more than it would for a local. They tend to have 12 month waiting periods for pre natal and childbirth cover.

Finally where you are planning on living is going to affect if you can get into a local hospital. Places in areas that are growing in the West and South Eastern suburbs are bursting at the seams so you may struggle to get into them.

Thanks all for you help/advice. I have a lot of research to do! I am keen to stay in the UK and have my baby here as I have already started the process with the NHS, but it all depends on the job offer etc.
Thanks again all.

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I would be very interested in using a private midwife so that when I arrive I have someone's assistance and guidance straight away. Could you recommend anyone and also how much do they cost? I would want to get this arranged before I leave the UK.
I'm sure that way I would be able to get antenatal advice and perhaps get me in touch with other young mums.
Also, I don't suppose you have any advice on places to live that are commuter friendly and family friendly? I have been looking on the Internet and the southeast i.e Brighton, Sandringham look like great places. I want to be able to get into the city easily but I want a slightly 'out of town' living space.

Moving to Melbourne and Pregnant!

That is my side of town but I'm a bit more inner city, in Prahran. I've only ever lived here, St Kilda and Elwood. I imagine being a Brit you want some beach action so Elwood all the way down to Sandringham are good options, I would just make sure you are near a train station to get into the city for work. Elwood has shocking public transport for the city.

Have a look at realestate.com.au so you can see prices as all those areas are quite pricey.

My midwife lives in the Yarra Valley so I'm pretty sure she wouldn't be able to provide care so far away as it would take a fair while to get to you. I was right on the boundary for her.

There is a website with IM info - I will see if I can find it for you.

Also, the further South you go means the less likely you will get into the Women's. I think Monash might be the next closest public maternity hospital.

Hi,
there are a number of maternity hospitals in melbourne i guess it just comes down to a decision of which one, in relation to where you live. Its also good to take into consideration what type of birth you are wanting as each hospital has varying different stats in natural birth, intervention, c/s, breastfeeding etc, so its good to know their policies before you decided on the hospital.

In terms of a private MW I would recommend Midwifes Naturally. They are amazing and cater for almost all of melbourne, both hospital and homebirths. They would also know about differing hospital policies.

another option you could look into is hiring a doula, either birth doula or postnatal doula. PM me if you would like to know more about a Doula option.

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